Solar term
| (Twenty-four) solar terms | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | (二十四)節氣 | ||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | (二十四)节气 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese | (hai mươi bốn) tiết khí | ||||||||||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||||||||||
| Hangul | (이십사)절기 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hanja | (二十四)節氣 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Kanji | (二十四)節気 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hiragana | (にじゅうし)せっき | ||||||||||||||||
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A solar term is any of 24 points in traditional East Asian lunisolar calendars that matches a particular astronomical event or signifies some natural phenomenon. The points are spaced 15° apart along the ecliptic and are used by lunisolar calendars to stay synchronized with the seasons, which is crucial for agrarian societies. The solar terms are also used to calculate intercalary months in East Asian calendars; which month is repeated depends on the position of the sun at the time.
Solar terms originated in China, then spread to Korea, Vietnam, and Japan, countries in the East Asian cultural sphere. This is exhibited by the fact that traditional Chinese, Hanja, and Kanji characters for most of the solar terms are identical.
Because the Sun's speed along the ecliptic varies depending on the Earth-Sun distance, the number of days that it takes the Sun to travel between each pair of solar terms varies slightly throughout the year. Each solar term is divided into three pentads (候 hou), so there are 72 pentads in a year. Each pentad consists of five, rarely six, days, and are mostly named after phenological (biological or botanical) phenomena corresponding to the pentad.
List of solar terms
| Longi- tude |
Usual translation |
Chinese name ¹ |
Japanese name |
Korean name ² |
Vietnamese name |
Date ³ | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 315° | start of spring | 立春 lìchūn |
立春 risshun |
입춘(S)/립춘(N) (立春) ipchun/ripchun |
Lập xuân | Feb 4 | |
| 330° | rain water | 雨水 yǔshuǐ |
雨水 usui |
우수 (雨水) usu |
Vũ thủy | Feb 19 | more rain than snow |
| 345° | awakening of insects | 驚蟄 (惊蛰) jīngzhé |
啓蟄 keichitsu |
경칩 (驚蟄) gyeongchip |
Kinh trập | Mar 6 | lit. awakening of hibernating insects. See the note at Chinese calendar#Solar term. |
| 0° | vernal equinox | 春分 chūnfēn |
春分 shunbun |
춘분 (春分) chunbun |
Xuân phân | Mar 21 | lit. spring division (or center) |
| 15° | clear and bright | 清明 qīngmíng |
清明 seimei |
청명 (清明) cheongmyeong |
Thanh minh | Apr 5 | time for tending graves |
| 30° | grain rain | 穀雨 (谷雨) gǔyǔ |
穀雨 kokuu |
곡우 (穀雨) gogu |
Cốc vũ | Apr 20 | lit. grain rain: rain helps grain grow |
| 45° | start of summer | 立夏 lìxià |
立夏 rikka |
입하(S)/립하(N) (立夏) ipha(S)/ripha(N) |
Lập hạ | May 6 | |
| 60° | grain full | 小滿 (小满) xiǎomǎn |
小満 shōman |
소만 (小滿) soman |
Tiểu mãn | May 21 | grains are plump |
| 75° | grain in ear | 芒種 (芒种) mángzhòng |
芒種 bōshu |
망종 (芒種) mangjong |
Mang chủng | Jun 6 | lit. awns (beard of grain) grow |
| 90° | summer solstice | 夏至 xiàzhì |
夏至 geshi |
하지 (夏至) haji |
Hạ chí | Jun 21 | lit. summer extreme (of sun's height) |
| 105° | minor heat | 小暑 xiǎoshǔ |
小暑 shōsho |
소서 (小暑) soseo |
Tiểu thử | Jul 7 | |
| 120° | major heat | 大暑 dàshǔ |
大暑 taisho |
대서 (大暑) daeseo |
Đại thử | Jul 23 | |
| 135° | start of autumn | 立秋 lìqiū |
立秋 risshū |
입추(S)/립추(N)(立秋) ipchu(S)/ripchu(N) |
Lập thu | Aug 8 | |
| 150° | limit of heat | 處暑 (处暑) chǔshǔ |
処暑 shosho |
처서 (處暑) cheoseo |
Xử thử | Aug 23 | lit. dwell in heat |
| 165° | white dew | 白露 báilù |
白露 hakuro |
백로 (白露) baengno(S)/baengro(N) |
Bạch lộ | Sep 8 | condensed moisture makes dew white |
| 180° | autumnal equinox | 秋分 qiūfēn |
秋分 shūbun |
추분 (秋分) chubun |
Thu phân | Sep 23 | lit. autumn division (or center) |
| 195° | cold dew | 寒露 hánlù |
寒露 kanro |
한로 (寒露) hallo |
Hàn lộ | Oct 8 | |
| 210° | frost descent | 霜降 shuāngjiàng |
霜降 sōkō |
상강 (霜降) sanggang |
Sương giáng | Oct 23 | appearance of frost and descent of temperature |
| 225° | start of winter | 立冬 lìdōng |
立冬 rittō |
입동(S)/립동(N)(立冬) ipdong(S)/ripdong(N) |
Lập đông | Nov 7 | |
| 240° | minor snow | 小雪 xiǎoxuě |
小雪 shōsetsu |
소설 (小雪) soseol |
Tiểu tuyết | Nov 22 | |
| 255° | major snow | 大雪 dàxuě |
大雪 taisetsu |
대설 (大雪) daeseol |
Đại tuyết | Dec 7 | |
| 270° | winter solstice | 冬至 dōngzhì |
冬至 tōji |
동지 (冬至) dongji |
Đông chí | Dec 22 | lit. winter extreme (of sun's height) |
| 285° | minor cold | 小寒 xiǎohán |
小寒 shōkan |
소한 (小寒) sohan |
Tiểu hàn | Jan 6 | |
| 300° | major cold | 大寒 dàhán |
大寒 daikan |
대한 (大寒) daehan |
Đại hàn | Jan 20 |
- Simplified Chinese characters are shown in parentheses if they differ from the Traditional Chinese characters.
- Hanja is indicated in parentheses.
- Date can vary within a ±1 day range.
The "Song of Solar Terms" (Chinese: 節氣歌; pinyin: jiéqìgē) is used to ease the memorization of jiéqì:
春雨驚春清穀天 |
chūn yǔ jīng chūn qīng gǔ tiān, |
Regional note
In Japan, the term Setsubun (節分) originally referred to the eves of Risshun (立春, 315°, the beginning of Spring) Rikka (立夏, 45°, the beginning of Summer), Risshū (立秋, 135°, the beginning of Autumn), and Rittō (立冬, 225°, the beginning of Winter), but currently mostly refers to the day before Risshun. The name of each solar term also refers to the period of time between that day and the next solar term, or 1/24th of a year.
See also
External links
- 24 Solar Terms – Hong Kong Observatory
- Chinese calendar with upcoming solar terms in current year
- 24 Sekki – NAOJ > ECO > Glossary >
- Twenty-four Solar Terms and meaning